China has plans to launch reusable space rockets to compete with the likes of SpaceX and Blue Origin. The Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the leading builder of Chinese space launch rockets, announced that its Long March (CHang Zheng in Chinese) LM-8 space rocket will launch in 2020….

The Institute of Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences is building a factory for the commercial production of hypersonic engines, a game-changing technology with both military and civilian applications. The institute’s scramjet lead scientist, Fan Xuejun, told the South China Morning Post that the factory in Hefei, Anhui Province,…

China’s new fighter, the J-20, uses a combination of stealth and datalinks to compete with the best fighters on the planet. Now, state media says the country is also mass-producing metamaterials for the aircraft, which could make it an electromagnetic force. What are metamaterials? In this case, we’re talking about…

A team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have tested a hypersonic plane in a wind tunnel to speeds of Mach 7, or 5,600 miles per hour, according a paper published (PDF) in the Chinese journal Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy. The project is led by Cui Kai, who’s…

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has officially deployed its J-20 stealth fighters to frontline fighter squadrons. Shen Jinke, a PLAAF spokesman, told the Xinhua News Agency that the new fighters were ready to “safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.” The PLA’s English website also mentions the J-20’s newfound…